Pastors Reflections May 2018

We just celebrated Jesus resurrection from the dead and I sometimes think we do not really understand what it is all about. Since Adam and Eve, God has stepped in trying to save his chosen people, all the time knowing it will come to the cross and Jesus putting everything right. Jesus taught his disciples and us how to pray. When we say the Lord’s Prayer. We pray for ‘God will to be done’. But can’t God just make his will be done on earth. The answer is no.

So what is Gods Will? Gods will is for everyone to know him and escape hell. God desire is for all his children to grow up in safe and nurturing environment. God’s plan for peace and prosperity on earth is clear, but much of the earth has missed this blessing. His will is not being done on lots of levels and why? Because we are in charge.

God gave mankind full authority over earth when he created Man and Woman in his image. Men and women were not intended to function on their own but in partnership with God. The verse goes: ‘The highest heavens belong to the Lord, but earth he has given to mankind, ‘Psalm 115:16. He blessed Adam and Eve when he told them ’be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion’ Genesis 1:28. God gave Adam and Eve so much power over earth that they had the power to lose it.

They did not know they were giving it up, but they had the free will to be flippant with their authority, EVEN TO THE POINT OF GIVING IT TO SOMEONE ELSE. Through deception and disobedience to God, Adam and Eve did just that. They gave their authority to Satan and Satan ruled for serval thousand years, until he met Jesus.

Jesus took back the earth dominion from Satan by paying man’s penalty for sin on the cross. Only a perfect man could pay this penalty in order to strip Satan of authority and restore authority to mankind as our heavenly father intended. Jesus died and is now alive; he has taken Satan’s keys see revelations 1:18.‘I died, but now I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys to death and the world of the dead.’

Keys are the symbol of authority, so Satan has no keys meaning he has no authority. In Christ we hold keys to authority he gained for us. Because of Christ sacrifice and resurrection, we are once again in full charge of the earth, and endowed with all the spiritual resources to steward it.

Our assignment is clear: to bring forth Gods will on earth as in heaven. This depends on prayers and intersession. It depends on us. It is our job to press into God-ordained authority and shift on earth the things that favour the kingdom of God. See Isaiah 9:7.

‘His power will never end; peace will last forever. He will rule David’s kingdom and make it grow strong. He will always rule with honesty and justice. The Lord All-Powerful will make certain that all of this is done.’

By his own words God does not override our will and authority on the earth. We are charged with inviting Gods will into the earth, and if we fail, Gods will does not happen. Many Christians, unaware of this truth give their spiritual authority away. When resisted or attacked they remain prayer less and passive, not recognising the spiritual dimension behind what is happening.

Just before His ascension, Jesus told His Disciples, ‘all authority in Heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore go’ Matthew 28:18-19. 18 Jesus came to them and said: I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth! 19 Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

He charged the disciples and us to go. But we need to know we will encounter resistance. That is why we need Jesus gift of spiritual authority. So how do we pray? Remember Jesus instructed us to pray for Gods will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Our prayers matter and Gods will does not happen unless we pray.

For this reason, we need to use wisdom and think about what we pray before we pray it. As long as we are in line with God’s written word and his voice, we will release the right things into our world through our prayers and prophetic intersessions. If we are not aligned we can lose the wrong things Matthew 16:19.

Matthew 16:19 Contemporary English Version (CEV)

I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and God will allow whatever you allow on earth. But he will not allow anything that you don’t allow.

Christ’s passion reclaimed this gift. We are more powerful in prayer than we think.